To the undecided voters

[That One Guy]

ITT, you list how much more effective you were for having voted.

I can now bitch about what the politicians do because I at least bothered to voice my opinion in the only way that they care about - my vote. Didn't vote? The politicians have NO interest in listening to you because you didn't have any say in their getting elected and are highly unlikely to have a say in their getting reelected. Want them to listen to you, or make changes that would benefit you? Then you have to vote.

It doesn't even matter who or what you vote FOR - just the act of voting gives you a voice that the politicians have to pay attention to because voting is the only way for them to get power and if you vote against them they can lose that power. If you never vote at all, don't expect anything from the government or politicians to be the way you want it because you pose no threat to those in power. The only way to affect the power structure (short of massive, country-wide revolution) is to vote because that is the only voice a politician actually cares about.

[AFK]

vigilante apathy is so 4 years ago. 

[Jenne]

ITT GA demonstrates how we got 8 years of Dubya in the first place.

[Golden Applesauce]

ITT, you list how much more effective you were for having voted.

I can now bitch about what the politicians do because I at least bothered to voice my opinion in the only way that they care about - my vote. Didn't vote? The politicians have NO interest in listening to you because you didn't have any say in their getting elected and are highly unlikely to have a say in their getting reelected. Want them to listen to you, or make changes that would benefit you? Then you have to vote.

It doesn't even matter who or what you vote FOR - just the act of voting gives you a voice that the politicians have to pay attention to because voting is the only way for them to get power and if you vote against them they can lose that power. If you never vote at all, don't expect anything from the government or politicians to be the way you want it because you pose no threat to those in power. The only way to affect the power structure (short of massive, country-wide revolution) is to vote because that is the only voice a politician actually cares about.

So are you saying that if I write a letter to a representative, they'll throw it away if their magical politician senses think that I didn't vote, but they'd read it if I had?  Politicians don't care about individual voters - they can't.  They care about groups of voters, and about people who will donate time/money to reach groups of voters.

ITT GA demonstrates how we got 8 years of Dubya in the first place.

No, the country completely ignored my opinion on President 4 and 8 years ago.  I just decided to not bother giving my opinion this time, and this time my country didn't pick GWB.  So you'll excuse me when I am confused as to how my voting or not voting has any real effect.

[AFK]

Tragedy of the Commons politics. 

I don't have to vote because everyone else will. 

[Jenne]

Sigh.  I'm not going to fucking bother, and GA, no, I'm not going to excuse you.  You're putting your fingers in your ears and going "la la la la ICAN'THEARYOU la la la"

[The Dark Monk]

The whole point is this -
1 vote matters because that 1 voter tells 5 of his friends his point of view, who turn around and tell/convince 5 other people each, etc.
1 voter can mean hundreds of votes.

[Jenne]

You can't make her listen, TSR.  She's right, the whole rest of the country is wrong.

Thing is, GA doesn't get it--you become a pawn of the system when you refuse to use it to your advantage.

There's NO advantage in not voting.

[AFK]

I don't care if this sounds lame but I was proud to have been a voice in this historic election.  Did my measly vote along have any significant impact?  Of course not.  But take that logic to its extreme where you have nobody voting.  What sense does it make to base you inaction upon others' actions? 

[Jenne]

None, because in the end, it comes down to pure laziness.

[The Dark Monk]

Even the people who didn't want Obama, McCain, Green party, whatever, and voted, stood up and said, Fuck these guys, I don't want any of them.
Instead of, Well, I'm not going to vote because they'll both fuck us over, and I don't care which one does.

So, in it's very basic essence, It's I don't want either, I'm going to make sure I get heard, other than I'll just let whoever wins streamroll me.

[That One Guy]

ITT, you list how much more effective you were for having voted.

I can now bitch about what the politicians do because I at least bothered to voice my opinion in the only way that they care about - my vote. Didn't vote? The politicians have NO interest in listening to you because you didn't have any say in their getting elected and are highly unlikely to have a say in their getting reelected. Want them to listen to you, or make changes that would benefit you? Then you have to vote.

It doesn't even matter who or what you vote FOR - just the act of voting gives you a voice that the politicians have to pay attention to because voting is the only way for them to get power and if you vote against them they can lose that power. If you never vote at all, don't expect anything from the government or politicians to be the way you want it because you pose no threat to those in power. The only way to affect the power structure (short of massive, country-wide revolution) is to vote because that is the only voice a politician actually cares about.

So are you saying that if I write a letter to a representative, they'll throw it away if their magical politician senses think that I didn't vote, but they'd read it if I had?  Politicians don't care about individual voters - they can't.  They care about groups of voters, and about people who will donate time/money to reach groups of voters.

But if you're not a voter, you're thus not a part of a group of voters, and are also unlikely to donate your time and/or money to the cause of a group of voters. And even if you DID donate that time and/or money, it's not the fact that you donated the time/$$ to make your voice heard - it's that you're making your voice heard on behalf of voters. Again, the fact is that politicians are only interested in what people have to say if they think those people vote.

The example you site above references only people that vote. Whether the politicians follow every single voter's opinion or not, the fact is they only care about those they feel are likely voters, whether that be a group or organization. Even in your own rebuttal you don't refer to politicians caring about non-voters - you specifically only say that they care about groups of voters and people who reach them. Someone that doesn't vote is highly unlikely to be in either of those categories.

So what was your point again?

No matter what you might think, it all boils down to politicians only listening to people they think will vote. Someone that doesn't vote is far less likely to work on behalf of voters, or write their congressman, or work to make their voice heard to a politician. If they really cared about making their voice known, they would have voted and will most likely vote in the future, and are thus someone a politician will listen to.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I hope all of you militant pro-voting people ARE ALSO GUN OWNERS, or else there's a lot of hypocrisy in this thread.

[The Dark Monk]

One of the reasons I don't like Obama is because he is anti gun. It's in his plan to raise the costs of guns, ammunition, and increase laws to discourage gun ownership, and if I can find who covered an interview and post an example, he basically said - If I can't fix the 2nd amendment, there are other ways around it.

Here's one interview
http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Barack_Obama_Gun_Control.htm

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One of the reasons I don't like Obama is because he is anti gun. It's in his plan to raise the costs of guns, ammunition, and increase laws to discourage gun ownership, and if I can find who covered an interview and post an example, he basically said - If I can't fix the 2nd amendment, there are other ways around it.

That's entirely beside the point.